Lower Pancreatitis Risk With Statin Therapy

By Staff

US Pharm. 2012;37(9):6.

Glasgow, Scotland—Counter to the results of some other studies
of lipid-lowering therapies, an analysis that pooled published and
unpublished data from previous studies and included more than 150,000
subjects found that statin therapy was associated with a reduced risk of
pancreatitis in patients with normal or mildly elevated triglycerides.
University of Glasgow researchers examined associations between use of a
statin or fibrate and incidence of pancreatitis, and determined that
subjects taking statins had a notably lower risk of pancreatitis.
“Although the present results for both statins and fibrates should be
considered hypothesis-generating…the analysis raises questions regarding
the choice of lipid-modifying agents in patients with
hypertriglyceridemia. In those with slightly elevated triglyceride
levels, statins appear better supported by the available data than
fibrates for preventing pancreatitis,” the researchers noted.